Ken Yeang is an architect-planner, and one of the leading ecodesigners, theoreticians, and thinkers in the field of green design. He has been synonymous with skyscraper design for years; and his focus, embracing the growing demands of green design, swiftly developed into an extended analysis for the contemporary eco-skyscraper. He insists that in order to be both ecologically sustainable and high rise, a building needs to be the perfect balance between engineering infrastructure and mimicking nature - Yeang approaches each building as an addition to the earth’s living, breathing eco-system. Adopting techniques used in urban planning to analyse sites horizontally, he proposes their almost literal vertical application on skyscraper design – from circulation analysis, to vertical green zones.

After having studied architecture at the Architectural Association in London, his work on the green agenda started in the 70s with his doctoral dissertation for the University of Cambridge on ecological design and planning. Mr. Yeang is the author of several books on ecological design, and the design of green skyscrapers including The Skyscraper, Bioclimatically Considered: A Design Primer (1996) published by Wiley-Academy, The Green Skyscraper: The Basis for Designing Sustainable Intensive Buildings (1999) published by Prestel (Germany), Revinventing the Skyscraper: The Vertical Theory of Urban Design (2002) published by Wiley-Academy. He holds the Chair of the distinguished Plym Professor at the University of Illinois and Adjunct Professorships at the University of Malaya and University of Hawaii and recently received a D.Lit. (Hon) from the Sheffield University. A principal of Llewelyn Davies Yeang (UK) and its sister firm, Hamzah & Yeang (Malaysia), Ken Yeang is regarded as the father of the ‘bioclimatic skyscraper’, and is well known for designing signature green buildings and master plans, and for his pursuit of an ecological aesthetic in his designs.

Dr. Todd is one of the pioneers in the emerging field of ecological design and engineering and the founder and senior partner of John Todd Ecological Design.

Beyond his numerous awards and citations including the 2008 Buckminster Fuller Award, Dr. Todd has degrees in agriculture, parasitology & tropical medicine from McGill University and a doctorate in fisheries and ethology from the University of Michigan.

Dr. Todd is currently a tenured research professor at the School of Natural Resources and both a Distinguished Lecturer and Fellow of the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics at the University of Vermont. He is also the founder and president of Ocean Arks International, a non- profit research and education organization established in 1981.

Bruno Stagno is the Founder and Director of the Institute for Tropical Architecture, which combines concepts of tropical architecture with those of international contemporary architecture.

Bruno Stagno focuses his practice on the communion of building with nature, juxtaposing tradition and innovation. His work embodies the principles of critical regionalism in a time where globalization is the dominant force. Bruno Stagno has developed an intense activity, focusing on the maximum exploitation of climate characteristics of the tropics, logical use of materials, and emphasizing tropical biodiversity in the landscape. He endorses the concept of “more design than technology” for sustainable architecture in developing countries.

Born in Santiago, Chile and a Costa Rican national, he has studied architecture at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in Santiago and the École des Beaux Arts in Paris. His work has been exhibited and collected in numerous publications and meetings such as Venice Biennale in 2004. He is the author of Bruno Stagno: An Architect in the Tropics and Ciudades Tropicales Sostenibles (Sustainable Tropical Cities). He is also co-author of Tropical Architecture: Critical Regionalism in the Age of Globalization.

Bruno Stagno was recipient of the Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development Award (1997) and the First Award in Architecture at the 8th Santo Domingo International Biennial of Architecture (2006). He was awarded the Unión Panamericana de Arquitectos Award for his research and diffusion of tropical architecture in Costa Rica in 2005. He was a finalist in the Livingsteel International Competition for Sustainable Housing (2006) in Kolkata, India.

His design for the Holcim Costa Rica office building in San José reduces energy demand through natural lighting and ventilation, achieves this at a relatively modest cost, presents a striking and attractive appearance, and provides a stimulating work environment – and was named by the Spanish version of GEO magazine as one of the five pioneering sustainable buildings on the planet.

Richards is a registered architect with a Master’s degree in urban design. In his work he has developed a wide range of design, visualization, representation and implementation skills projects at all scales and complexities – from community facilities, housing and large complex public buildings and neighborhoods to town design throughout Australia. He is recognized for his expertise in collaborative design processes and methods. Richards is an adjunct professor at the Queensland Institute of Technology and chairs the Board for the Centre for Subtropical Design. Peter combines practice with research and regularly contributes to conferences and publications. Recent publications include Suburban Urbanism and a Transect of Urban Settlements Types. Underscoring his work is a strong understanding of urban quality and the rich relationship between people and structure, placed within a regional sustainable urbanism.

Guy Nordenson is a professor of structural engineering and architecture at Princeton University and a faculty associate of the University Center for Human Values. Nordenson was the structural engineer for the Museum of Modern Art expansion in New York, the Jubilee Church in Rome, the Simmons Residence Hall at MIT in Massachusetts, the Disneyland Parking Structure in California, the Santa Fe Opera House, and over 100 other projects. Nordenson is active in earthquake engineering, including code development, technology transfer, long-range planning for FEMA and the USGS, and research. He initiated and led the development of the New York City Seismic Code from 1984 to its enactment into law in 1995.

Nordenson was the first recipient of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Academy Award in Architecture for contributions to architecture by a non-architect in 2003. With Terence Riley he was co-curator of the “Tall Buildings” exhibition held at MoMA QNS in 2004. He has served as Commissioner and Secretary of the New York City Public Design Commission since 2006. He was the editor of Seven Structural Engineers —The Felix Candela Lectures in Structural Engineering, published in 2008 by MoMA. His project “On the Water—the NY/NJ Upper Bay” won the 2007 AIA College of Fellows Latrobe Research Prize. The research was published in On the Water | Palisade Bay (Hatje Cantz, Berlin 2010) and served as the inspiration for the MoMA workshop and exhibition "Rising Currents" in 2010. Nordenson was a recipient of the AIA’s 2009 Institute Honors for Collaborative Achievement Award, and is the seventh structural engineer to receive this award.

Andres Duany is a founding principal at Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company (DPZ). DPZ is widely recognized as a leader of the New Urbanism, an international movement that seeks to end suburban sprawl and urban disinvestment. In the years since the firm first received recognition for the design of Seaside, Florida in 1980, DPZ has completed designs for close to 300 new towns, regional plans and community reinvestment projects. This work has exerted a significant influence on the practice and direction of urban planning and development in the United States and abroad.

Andres Duany has delivered hundreds of lectures and seminars, addressing architects, planning groups, university students and the general public. His recent publications include The New Civic Art and Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream. He is a founder of the Congress for the New Urbanism, where he continues to serve on the Board of Directors. Established in 1993, with the mission of reforming urban growth patterns, the Congress has been characterized by the New York Times as “the most important collective architectural movement in the United States in the past fifty years.”

Andres received his undergraduate degree in architecture and urban planning from Princeton University, and after a year of study at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, he received a master’s degree in architecture from the Yale School of Architecture. He has been awarded several honorary doctorates, the Brandeis Award for Architecture, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Award for Architecture from the University of Virginia, the Vincent J. Scully Prize for exemplary practice and scholarship in architecture and urban design from the National Building Museum, and the Seaside Prize for contributions to community planning and design from the Seaside Institute.